Under the plan, Bishop Maginn would relocate by the start of the fall school year from its current home between Second and Morton avenues to the former Cathedral Academy, which overlooks Lincoln Park.

The stated reason?

Low enrollment.

Only 133 students now attend Bishop Maginn. Its sprawling home was built to hold 1,200.

"It doesn't make sense to invest in a building of that size when there's such a small enrollment," said Ken Goldfarb, spokesman for the Albany diocese.

Goldfarb described the move as being under "serious consideration" and said a final decision had not been made. But two people with knowledge of the plan, both of whom requested anonymity, said the diocese on Tuesday notified the Bishop Maginn school board that the move is a done deal.

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In short, the board says it doesn't consider the Cathedral Academy building appropriate for a modern high school. Among many concerns, it notes that the vacant former elementary school at 75 Park Ave. has no athletic fields or appropriate gym, lacks adequate parking, and is in a neighborhood that some parents will perceive as unsafe.

"Our opinion is that this move will result in the loss of students," the letter says.

The worry is that any additional enrollment decline at Bishop Maginn could force the closure of a school with a long and rich history — and an outsized impact on Albany politics.

On Thursday and Friday, I spoke with Ellis, Jennings, Common Council President Carolyn McLaughlin and many other alumni about the history of the school, its recent enrollment decline and the planned relocation.

The universal reaction was surprise at the move — along with shock and sadness at the small size of the school's enrollment.

"When I went there, each class had 300 kids," said Dominick Calsolaro, a former council member and a 1973 McCloskey graduate. "Things have changed."

The decline in Catholic school attendance — caused by a complex stew of factors — has been well documented, and there's no need for a rehash here. But while the attendance fall isn't unique to Albany, its impact is noteworthy because the city once had an especially robust network of parochial schools, including Cathedral Academy.

Those schools were a path from poverty for many in Albany, a role that Bishop Maginn continues to serve. Many of its students are from the city's toughest neighborhoods and receive a break on the school's $6,000 annual tuition.

"They're great kids," a person close to the school said Friday. "And they're going to be devastated by this."

The current Bishop Maginn building on Slingerland Street opened in 1967 after its precursor near the governor's mansion was demolished for the construction of Empire State Plaza. Oddly, the move to Cathedral Academy would place the school near its ancestral home.

Presumably, the diocese would seek to sell the current building and campus after the relocation.

"That would be a fair assumption," Goldfarb said.

When I started asking about the relocation on Thursday, the diocese had told few people of the plan, though the start of the fall school year is just five months away. Transparency has never been its strong suit.

The school board objects to the secrecy.

"We are missing the important input of students, parents and faculty, which we should have prior to making any decision about relocating," the board said in the letter to Hubbard and Pizzingrillo, adding that the move "would signal the beginning of the end for Maginn."

On Friday afternoon, worried that parents, students and teachers would learn of the plan in the Sunday newspaper, the diocese finally distributed a letter informing them that there is "serious consideration" being given to relocation.

"As the details of this possible move develop, all members of the school community will be informed," the letter says. "Over the next several weeks, we will continue to share plans with you and we invite you to share the excitement of the next chapter of Bishop Maginn High School."